the Successful English blog

Lessons for better English

01.31.2012

Lessons for better English is a collection of Successful English articles – organized like a textbook or course outline – for English students and teachers. Its goal – to help you improve your English by helping you understand and practice successful language acquisition.

A free ticket to Narnia

12.21.2011

The Chronicles of Narnia, according to one writer, is one of the few sets of books that everyone should read three times – in childhood, in early adulthood, and late in life. Many of my students have enjoyed the Chronicles, written by C.S. Lewis. They’re enjoyable and easy to understand for both intermediate and advanced English learners. And now an audio version of the Chronicles is available – free!

Something to read at the end of 2011

12.13.2011

Welcome to the 2011 holiday edition of Something to read! Two of my favorite sources for online reading have just published their end-of-2011 reading lists, and I want to share them with you.

Reading improves students’ writing

12.06.2011

There’s strong agreement among the writers, teachers, and researchers I know best: good writing comes from reading. Many students, however, have trouble accepting this fact. In this article – a case study – I describe the effect that reading has had on one student’s writing.

A language teacher acquires a new language

11.30.2011

Alex teaches English at an American university. He’s also the director of the university’s TESL program, where students learn how to teach English as a second language. When he wanted to learn Spanish, he began as many English learners do. And failed. He found success, though, when he applied a simple principle and found some creative ways to make it work.

Better reading – look for the clues

11.11.2011

When you read to improve your English, you want to read for pleasure. You want to choose something that’s easy and interesting, that allows you to “get lost” in what you’re reading and forget that it’s English. But sometimes you must read to learn, for example, on the TOEFL exam. What do you do then?

Better reading – it’s in the chunks

10.30.2011

What is reading? Very simply, reading is trying to make sense of a sentence, paragraph, essay, article, or book. It’s trying to understand what’s in the writer’s mind. And the key to making sense of what we read is in the chunks – groups of words – not individual words.

Revising for better English

08.25.2011

“So what is good English?” asks William Zinsser. “…it’s plain and it’s strong,” he answers. “It has a huge vocabulary of words that have a precise shade of meaning; there’s no subject however technical or complex, that can’t be made clear to the ordinary reader in good English – if it’s used right.”

Something to read – August 2011

08.11.2011

Something to Read for August 2011 – more than news, different than fiction; a monthly collection of articles about fascinating people, events, and ideas for high intermediate and advanced readers.

Does practice make perfect English?

07.28.2011

Practice (verb) – to do an activity, often regularly, in order to improve a skill or prepare for a test. “I need more practice” may be the most frequent statement I receive from English learners. How concerned should they be about practice?

Making good choices

07.07.2011

One of my students – let’s call him Bryan – recently asked me, “How can I be sure that what I’m reading (or listening to) is good for me?” Bryan wants to improve his English as quickly as possible, and he’s worried about wasting time.

Something to read: best articles of the last 60 years

06.30.2011

Reading doesn’t get much better than this! This month, Something to read offers a special collection of the best magazine articles of the last 60 years. The articles provide a unique view of American history and culture by some of its best non-fiction writers. High intermediate and advanced English students will find many hours of good reading to feed their English acquisition process.

When you do the right thing and it doesn’t seem to work

06.23.2011

Of all the students I’ve worked with, one group always seems to do better than the rest even though they all do the same thing. Sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it – but it’s true. Make sure you’re in the right group.

Who needs slang?

06.09.2011

Slang. Many English students worry about it. Some teachers spend a lot of time trying to teach it. And publishers keep printing books about it. But why? Is slang that important? Is it worth the worry, time, and money?

Something to read – June 2011

05.31.2011

Something to read – more than news, different than fiction Most of our fluency comes from what we read, so reading is the most important thing you can do to improve your English. To get the greatest benefit from your reading, find articles and stories that are easy enough for you to enjoy without stopping [...]

← Previous Entries

Welcome to Successful English

If English is your second language, Successful English is a good place to find clear explanations and practical suggestions for improving it.

Warren Ediger, an adult ESL specialist and former college and university instructor, created Successful English in 2006. He and his family live in southern California, about 15 minutes north of Disneyland.

Dr. Jeff McQuillan, from the ESL Podcast, calls Warren "one of the best ESL classroom teachers and online tutors I know."
Search Successful English
Support Successful English…
... by making a donation today. It's a good way to say "thank you." And it's a good way to help Successful English continue to provide English learners everywhere with clear explanations and practical suggestions for better English. You can use a major credit card or your PayPal account.

LEARN: recent articles
LEARN: topics
Successful English Readers Say:

"Many thanks for your input; it is always excellent...." (J. in Panama)

"First of all, your suggestions are simply fantastic and very, very efficient! I've been studying English for 7 years and I've never seen such an effective way of explaining and giving suggestions. It's helped me a lot. I really appreciate that, man! Your articles have not only great ideas, but also ... match my needs as an ESL student." (D. in Brazil)

Get smart with the Thesis WordPress Theme from DIYthemes.

WordPress Admin